“Jerome and I are going to town for groceries,” Daniel says with a little shrug. “We wanted to see if Fay wanted to come.” “Ohhh!” I gasp, clasping my hands under my chin. “Yes yes yes! Let me just get my bag –“ I dash for the door but Kent puts out a hand, touching me lightly on the arm. “F
Unfortunately, our little errand today is a short one. I look longingly at the little coffee shop down the street, considering making Daniel and Jerome go for a quick espresso with me, but… Well, Kent was serious about one hour, and if I’m not back he will get worried and come looking for me. I
“Puppies!?” Jerome gasps, darting immediately to my side, ignoring Daniel as much as I am. “We are not getting a puppy!” Daniel calls to us. “Loooook,” I coo, pointing at them and trying to get a better look. “What kind are they? Can you see?” “I think they’re German Shepherds,” Jerome s
I bite Ivan one last time for good measure and he snaps a curse, whipping his hand from my mouth. Instantly I scurry away from him, rocking a little in the unbalance van that’s flying down the road – going even faster than Italians usually drive, which is saying something. “What the fuck, Ivan!?” I
“I’m in charge here,” Ivan growls at me, pointing to his chest, and I smirk a little. Because anyone who is actually in charge? They don’t have to remind the people they’re trying to control. “And you have no recourse, and you’re not getting out of this van except where I want you to, and when I wan
“Kent!” Daniel shouts into the phone as Jerome drives frantically down the road, blazing through intersections, weaving around and between cars. “Someone – someone fucking took her!” They’d done their best to follow the van, but it had already been too late. By the time that they realized that Fay
Kent pushes Jerome ahead of him into the room and then into the closet, Gio striding closely behind as Kent mutters to Gio the short details of what happened to Fay. When Kent presses the code into the lock at the back of the closet and the secret door swings open, Jerome glances back at Gio and is
This could go very badly for him. “You’d better start fucking talking, Jerome,” Kent snaps, slamming the gun down on the table as he loses his temper. “Because I have methods to make you talk, and I don’t have the fucking patience right now to use the easy ones.” “Okay,” Jerome says, putting up hi
My dad greets him with such genuine joy and excitement that it makes my heart swell with joy. They talk for a few minutes about Dominic’s day before dad gives him a little nudge back towards the gate where Kent and I are waiting. Dominic gives dad a kiss before running ahead again. My dad waves to
“Papa!” Dominic shouts, startling me out of my reverie as he drops my hand and darts down the road. I look up, a huge smile breaking out on my face again as I see Kent on the sidewalk just ahead. His back is to us as he speaks companionably with the butcher, a heavy bag of his purchases already hung
As I walk down the street towards the little Italian kindergarten, the whispers start around me, as they always do. I listen to all of them, a big German Shepherd padding quietly at my heels. “Is that her?” “Yes, that’s the one – I heard she was her husband’s mistress before he married her – tha
Both Kent and I laugh, but Don Bianci – across the baptismal font from us – snaps his eyes up, perhaps not liking the joke as much as we do. But I just ignore it, because dad’s right, frankly – and it’s too happy a day to care. After the final blessing everyone applauds Dominic – he likes that, bl
“Well, it didn’t seem to affect your first very badly,” Ivan says with a shrug, peering around Kent to where Daniel is laughing with an arm around Jerome’s shoulders. “So…maybe keep it up.” I smirk, squeezing Ivan’s hand once more before standing and moving to Kent’s side, tucking myself against h
“Hey, gorgeous,” Ivan says, his mouth turned up in a smirk as I cross the churchyard, beaming at him. “Look who’s talking,” I say, laughing and reaching for him when I come close enough. Ivan wraps me in a hug, dropping a kiss to my cheek as I hold Dominic a bit to the side so he doesn’t get squis
He laughs, smiling at me genuinely. “Do I make you nervous?” he asks, blunt. I laugh, unable to help it. “Has no one bothered to tell you, in all these years, that you’re a little terrifying, Don Bianci?” He grins and shakes his head at me. “Well, considering what you accomplished, young lady, I
Two months later, we’re all gathered together again. And it is only with frustration that I see Gio and Janeen standing so close together that their arms nearly brush, even though they’re still not together. I roll my eyes, dismissing the problem for a moment as I move my eyes down to Dominic and
It's an incredible night. Kent didn’t lie, not at all, about the food either. I’m shocked by the mountains of dishes that continue to follow each other, one after another, long into the night. After a few hours of it I just mournfully watch the waiters go by because I couldn’t eat another bite if I